On Sunday, October 4, 2020, the Stadio Olimpico hosts Lazio vs Inter Milan in Matchday 3 of the 2020/21 Serie A.
The Head Referee for this clash will be Marco Guida, the Assistant Referees will be Carbone and Longo, the Fourth Official will be Massa, and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be Irrati with the assistance of Vivenzi.
In the 154 times that Lazio and Inter have played each other in Serie A, the Biancocelesti have won on 37 occasions, the Nerazzurri have won on 64 occasions, and there have been 53 draws. In Rome, Lazio have won 27 times, Inter have won 22 times, and there have been 28 draws.
As it stands in the top flight of Italian football, the Biancocelesti sit in tenth with a record of 1W-0D-1L (3 points), while the Nerazzurri sit in second with a record of 2W-0D-0L (6 points).
Expected Starting Lineups
Lazio (3-5-2): Strakosha; Patric, Acerbi, Radu; Lazzari, Milinkovic, Leiva, Luis Alberto, Marusic; Correa, Immobile.
- Unavailable: Proto, Vavro, Luiz Felipe, Lulic, Muriqi
- Disqualified: –
- One Yellow Card Away From Suspension: –
Inter Milan (3-4-1-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, de Vrij, Bastoni; Hakimi, Vidal, Gagliardini, Kolarov; Sensi; Lukaku, Lautaro.
- Unavailable: Vecino, Nainggolan
- Disqualified: –
- One Yellow Card Away From Suspension: –
Prediction
This match takes place after Lazio lost 4-1 against Atalanta in Rome. It was a bitter, disappointing loss from the Biancocelesti as they failed to capitalize on their opportunities. In the first ten minutes of the match, Adam Marusic and Ciro Immobile each had quality chances to score, yet were not clinical enough in the final third. Shortly afterwards, on Atalanta’s first chance in the match, Hans Hateboer beat out Marusic on an aerial challenge in the box and headed the ball towards the goal area which resulted in Robin Gosens finding the back of the goal. The match went from bad to worse for Lazio, who conceded two more goals in the half. Hateboer and Papu Gómez each got on the scorecard and the home side found themselves trailing 3-0 at half time. In the second half, with just over 30 minutes remaining in the match, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic made a beautiful pass towards Felipe Caicedo and was left alone in the box. The striker did a great job of getting around goalkeeper, Marco Sportiello, and scored to give Lazio some life in the game. Moments after Caicedo’s goal, Immobile had a great opportunity to cut Atalanta’s lead to one. The Italian was one versus one against Sportiello and he went around the goalkeeper yet his shot hit the side of the net. Minutes later, Gómez was well defended by Patric yet beat out the defender with a polarizing strike and scored to extend the lead to 4-1, squashing Lazio’s hopes of coming back into the match. A game which Lazio should have been clinical, they must be more decisive in the final third against a team such as Inter.
In Inter’s recent match against Benevento, Romelu Lukaku scored a brace in the first half and Roberto Gagliardini scored a beautiful strike in the box to give the Nerazzurri a 3-0 lead within the first 30 minutes. Gabriel Caprari scored to bring his side back to within two goals, yet newly signed wing back, Achraf Hakimi scored to extend the lead to 4-1. The Moroccan put forth an impressive performance and was noticeable throughout the match as he played with high intensity and was tenacious and decisive in the final third. Lautaro Martinez scored late in the match to extend the lead to 5-1. Caprari scored minutes later, yet it was a consolation goal as the game was far out of reach at that point.
While Inter have started their Serie A season looking dangerous on the attack, they have showed weaknesses in the backend. This will be an area Antonio Conte will hope to have fixed against a Lazio side who has shown the ability to score plenty of goals and are coming off of a heavy defeat.
Prediction: Lazio 1-2 Inter Milan
